Today, on her 26th day in Prison, Ms. Victoire INGABIRE, FDU-INKINGI Chair, was brought to the High Court for an bail appeal hearing. The Prosecutor admitted that the copies of mails adduced as evidence were printed many days after the arrest and that the 14th October PRO-JUSTITIA statements related to the arrest of the key witness and the defendant contain inaccurate details and troubling inconsistencies. In this case , the first paragraph of article 102 of the LAW N° 13/2004 OF 17/5/2004 RELATING TO THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, O.G SPECIAL Nº OF 30/07/2004 should apply: “When a Magistrate or Judge does not find sufficient evidence for prosecution, an accused person shall be immediately released”.

The Defence Counsel is composed by the Bâtonnier GATERA GASHABANA (Kigali), Barristers Robert Alun JONES (London) and Iain EDWARDS (London) . They challenged the Prosecutor's submission and especially the accuracy of the judiciary statements justifying the arrest of the opposition leader. The interrogation of the key witness was backdated. The official information that the arrest of the defendant was prompted by allegations made by the key witness upon his arrest is misleading. The allegation that he was found with bunches of mail copies is a fake too. They were printed and edited in collaboration with the key witness on 19th October 2010 while the defendant was already in detention. The prosecutor struggled to persuade the Court and instead produced “fresh evidence” that has never been mentioned any time before. This looks like an endless state persecution. There is no doubt that new fake evidence will be produced every week. In this particular case, no chance to have a fair trial in Rwanda. This is a blatant violation of international conventions on human rights. The submission of petition to the Security Council and to the Human Rights Commissioner in this respect is to be seriously considered.

Since February 2010, Paul KAGAME's government has been using the judiciary apparatus to thwart the opposition and to keep opposition leaders in prison. All the bilateral partners of Rwanda have recently received a 6 page justification of the overwhelming evidence linking Ms. Victoire INGABIRE to a terrorist organisation and no serious grounds have been established. The verdict will be known on Friday, at 15:00. There are no further doubts about the political dimension of this trial.

We call for the immediate release of Ms. Victoire INGABIRE and other opposition leaders.